“Hey, great, you’re here!”
Alex stood in the doorway of the backroom of the bar. La Luna as the establisment was called, was TI(G)GER’s base, where they practiced in the basement and relaxed in the backroom. It was the place that hosted their first gig and the owner and the band had become great friends throughout the years.
“Yeah, my day job is kinda boring so I figured why not,” Lin shrugged.
He felt a bit out of place wearing his suit instead of his usual attire. He had come directly from his workplace and had had no time to change. The singer didn’t seem to mind though as he smiled widely and pulled the smaller man inside to meet the rest of the team.
Inside he found three other men, all around Alex’s age, sitting around a table. They appeared to be playing a tabletop game. Pretty nerdy for a gang of punks, Lin grinned in his mind. Not that he minded, on the contrary. It had been a while since he had played anything.
“Guys, this is Lin Renma,” the tall man said to his colleagues, “Lin, these are Kail, Johan and Xavier. Lin is going to do our finances for us.”
Lin smiled awkwardy, there was quite a big difference between seeing them on stage and actually meeting them. Kail, the drummer, had long, naturally red hair and was quite bulky. His green eyes were almost as bright as the vocalist’s, and there was a faint hint of freckles on his fair skin. He gave the smaller Asian man a firm handshake. Maybe a tad too firm.
Johan on the other hand was tall and skinny, and looked almost out of place if it wasn’t for his ash blonde hair styled into a fucking mohawk. And when he looked at you with his sharp grey eyes, it almost seemed as if he could look right into your soul. If it wasn’t for his warm hug, Lin would have been sure the man was some kind of vampire. A vampire that played bass like a god.
The one who played the guitar was Xavier, a short man who looked like he was still in his teens. Lin knew otherwise, from one of the interviews he had watched online, he was the oldest of the band, pushing his thirties. His hair was a mess of pink, purple and lilac curls, with big, bright eyes that shimmered almost a honey brown to match. He gave Lin an enthusiastic pat on the back, that knocked him almost to the floor if it wasn’t for Alex behind him, holding him steady.
“Watch it, Babyface. I don’t want our biggest fan to get hurt.”
The guitarist grinned, seemingly unbothered by the nickname.
“Welcome Lin. Care to join us for a game?”
He nervously sat down at the table, with Alex taking the seat next to him. The boys had brought out snacks and beers, including some non-alcoholic ones for the blonde. They started a new game, one wherein they had to try and take over each other’s land. All throughout he caught Alex looking at him, only for a second, then he looked back at the game as if nothing had happened. Lin couldn’t help but do the same, though he was less successful in not getting caught.
“If you keep on staring at Alex, you’ll lose the game, Lin,” Xavier teased, a mischievous twinkle in the boy’s eyes.
Lin couldn’t help but blush, causing the others to grin. He quickly continued with the game. It was his turn.
^^^^
Lin had accidentally gotten drunk. He didn’t know when it happened, but at some point he had grabbed a regular beer. As a lightweight it had hit him hard, his legs feeling like heavy sandbags and his mind a little woozy. He had also started to giggle whenever Alex said something, whether it was an actual joke or not. Alex on the other hand could handle his drinks pretty well and was currently on a happy level of drunk.
After the last round had ended, Xavier had suggested a change of games. Thruth or Dare. Lin wondered in the back of his mind if the guy honestly wanted to play this game or if it was a trap. His drunk self didn’t really care much though.
“Who’s first?” Xavier exclaimed, his grin had grown wider the more alcohol he had consumed.
The singer pointed a finger at the guitarist, dangerously close to the guy’s eyes. “I think it’s only fair for you to start, Babyface. You suggested this game after all.”
“Hm, fine, stop poking my eyes out though.”
He sighed and then looked for his first victim, Johan. A mischievous grin appeared on his face.
“Oh no, what are you planning?” The tall blonde muttered, not being able to hold back on rolling his eyes. Xavier was the worst when it came to these kind of games.
“Truth or Dare?”
“I’m not sure which one will be worse with you, but I’m going with Truth.”
“Great choice! Then tell me the most embarasing thing you ever did because you loved someone.”
Johan stuffed some chips in his mouth before answering.
“I think that was when I performed a really bad song at my school’s talent show for the girl I had my eyes on. I was not very subtle and everybody figured I had a crush on her afterwards. Back then I was a nerd and looked like it and she was this pretty rich girl. Obviously that did not work out well and she moved only a week later.”
“Ouch, feels bad man,” Kail said while patting his friend’s shoulder. Johan shrugged.
“Eh, highschool life. Okay, now it’s my turn, right?” He let his gaze go over the participants, and decided to settle on the newbie. “Lin, Truth or Dare?”
Lin giggled nervously. “Thruth!”
“Well, to keep on topic, who was your first crush?”
A blush appeared on the blonde’s face. Usually he would get too embarrassed to even answer, but the alcohol hadn’t yet left his system, so he felt more confident in telling.
“Well, there was this really cute boy in summer camp, with red curls and freckles. I was probably something like thirteen or fourteen and my last year at that place. His name was Dylan. At the end of the week we ended up kissing behind the cabins.”
Embarrassed by his confession, he hid behind his hands, afraid of any negative expressions. He could have lied and told them it had been a girl, but he probably wouldn’t have been very convincing right now after all. He sneaked a peek at Alex, who only had an eyebrow raised combined with a mildly curious grin on his face.
“Spicy!” Xavier interjected Lin’s thoughts, and then snorted when Johan gave him a stern look.
After he had calmed down again, it was his turn to pick someone. He decided to take revenge.
“Xavier, Thruth or Dare?”
The grin on the guitarist grew wider with every passing second, and Lin was afraid he had made a mistake.
“Dare me, Baby!”
Ofcourse. Lin groaned and quickly thought up a nice dare. When it took a bit longer than expected, Alex whispered an idea in his ear. The man’s soft breath tickled the short hairs on Lin’s skin, making him shudder in an unexpected pleasant way.
“Hey hey, not fair!” Xavier exclaimed when he saw what his bandmate was up to
Alex just simply grinned at him and ignored the rest of his rant.
“Xavier, I dare you to covince someone at the bar to take a body shot from you.”
“What, that all? Should be easy enough!” He winked and then left the room, heading for the bar with the others following him.
The bar had filled up with patrons, with some regulars as they greeted the boys casually. Xavier zoomed over to a cute girl with long blonde hair and after a bit of talking, led her to the bar. Soon enough the guy was shirtless and had the girl drinking from his belly button. He then gave her a quick peck on her cheek and darted back to his friends.
“Told ya! Easy!”
Alex grinned. “At least it was a girl and not a guy, otherwise we would have to tell your husband you were cheating on him.”
A giggle escaped Xavier’s mouth and then left for the comfort of the backroom. The others followed.
“Who do you pick now, Babyface?”
The singer sighed when he saw the guy staring at him.
“Alex, Thruth or Dare?”
“Either way will be hell with you, so Dare. We’ve had already too many Thruths.”
Lin started to feel uneasy when Xavier was eyeing him. He had a sneaking suspicion that it would involve him in some sort of way.
“I dare you to kiss Lin. On the lips.”
The short blonde wondered if he should hate or love the guy. On one hand it would be his dream come true and on the other hand he would probably feel super awkward, especially with the small audience.
Alex leaned over and Lin could barely register what he was saying right now, but he forced himself to focus.
“Mind if I kiss you?”
Lin could drown in those green eyes of his. He blinked a few times and willed himself to reply.
“I don’t mind.”
Everything felt like it happened in slow motion. Alex was gentle, lightly touching his chin and then brought his lips close. They lingered just a second before they connected. Lin could feel the sparks fly off their skin, and Alex must have noticed too, as his eyes fluttered open in surprise. It didn’t scare him off though, and he made sure every second was worth it.
When they finally broke apart again, they noticed the others grinning and cheering, especially Xavier.
“Happy now, Babyface?”
The guitarist nodded excitedly.
“I hope that wasn’t too bad,” Alex whispered just soft enough for only Lin to hear. There was a small blush appearing on the singer’s face.
Lin shook his head. “Not at all. I… like it a lot,” he confessed, his bravery spurred on by the rush he had felt just before.
“Good.” There was a small smile appearing on Alex’s face. He then redirected his attention on his fellow band members. “I think we should call it quits for tonight.”
The others agreed.
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